The Beginning
by Andrew's Slinky
Summary: Cindy wasn't the only one to have a nightmare that night. Dylan/Summer


Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot bunny that has been jumping up and down on my subconscious until I finally wrote this story down.

Summary: Cindy wasn't the only one who had a nightmare that night.

Summer whimpered. She was terrified, in pain. Her mother stood over her, a wicked smile twisting her lips as she laughed. Her father was just a few steps behind, the same look taking over his countenance. Summer cried and tried her best to reach out to her parents, but they were too far away. She tried to say she was sorry, but her throat was dry, her voice gone. She cried harder. She trembled, she shrank back into herself, grabbing tightly to the necklace her parents had given her, praying that it would give her some strength.

Summer jackknifed awake, springing out of her bed, tears pouring down her cheeks as she hit her knees on the floor, her legs unable to keep her upright. She grabbed tightly to the side of the bed, attempting to get her breathing under some semblance of control. She started to hyperventilate and suddenly got the terrified feeling that she was alone.

She got shakily to her feet and out the door. She padded across the hallway and into Dylan's room, somehow knowing that he would be the one person who could convince her that she wasn't alone.

"_Or you could just stop hitting on me."_

"_I can't do that, you see, you and I are destiny." _

She needed to see Dylan, and needed to know that she wasn't alone.

"Dylan?" she whispered as she entered his room. A snore answered her.

"Dylan, wake up, please." She murmured, reaching out and shaking his shoulder gently, praying that he would wake up. His skin was warm under her fingers, and she would have blushed if she'd been in the presence of mind to realize that his skin was warm because he wasn't wearing a shirt.

He snorted, once, twice, and then sat up slightly, rubbing sleep from his eyes.

"Summer?" he asked, his voice thick with sleep.

"Uh…" all of a sudden, she felt incredibly stupid for needing to see someone to know she wasn't alone.

"What's wrong?" he asked, looking up at her, seeing her tear-stained face and feeling his heart constrict.

"I had a bad dream." She whispered, closing her eyes, waiting for his laughter, but it never came. He sat up more fully and reached out to her, his hand closing around hers.

"How bad?" he asked her. She sighed heavily and sat next to him, he looked over at her, waiting for her answer.

"Pretty bad." She admitted, nodding as he wrapped a gentle arm around her shoulders. She could feel the tears well up again, and then the damn broke and she started to sob.

"I didn't mean to make them hate me, I didn't mean it." She sobbed into his shoulder and he wrapped his other arm around her, hugging her tight.

"Who Summer? Who are you talking about?" he asked her, looking down at the top of her head as she continued to cry, her hot tears sliding down his bare chest.

"My parents." She managed in between sobs, and Dylan could feel his heart break.

"Summer whatever it was, it wasn't your fault." He told her, and she shook harder and harder, gripping tightly to his arms, now knowing that he was her salvation.

"It's going to be okay, Summer, I've got you, and it's going to be okay."

They didn't talk for another ten minutes and Dylan let her cry, hugging her tight, letting her get all her feelings out and wondering exactly why he was the one she'd come to. She usually avoided him in any situations like this, she wasn't cold, but she wasn't exactly warm to him either.

"Dylan?" she asked, once her tears had trailed to sniffles. He hugged her tighter.

"Yeah Summer?" he looked down at the top of her head before resting his cheek there.

"Can I stay with you tonight?"

Dylan felt his stomach drop to his toes. Did she just ask him that? He'd imagined her asking him something like that since he'd met her, but never in a million years did he think she was going to.

"Uh…" he didn't know what to say. Then she started to squirm and he realized he'd paused too long before answering her.

"Oh, its okay, it doesn't…I'll just, uh, go." She stuttered and started to stand, but he tightened his grip on her.

"No, stay Summer, it's okay, you can stay."

She looked at him, and he smiled, hoping to put her at ease.

She smiled back and sat down next to him again. He left his arm around her shoulders and she sighed, collapsing gently into his embrace, exhaustion taking over.

"Come on," he let her crawl into the bed before getting in beside her, "let's get some sleep. I'm sure Zoom is going to make us do something ridiculous tomorrow."

She giggled and burrowed down deep into the covers. Dylan watched her a minute as she drifted off to sleep before turning back towards the openness of the room and closing his eyes. He started to drift off and just as he was about to sleep, he felt Summer's hand on his shoulder. He turned to look at her and she smiled sheepishly when they made eye contact.

"Would you hold my hand?" she asked him, blushing. He grinned and rolled over to face her. He reached out and she met him halfway, gripping his hand tightly. Their hands lay entwined between them, holding them close but not uncomfortably so.

"Goodnight Summer."

She closed her eyes and smiled, tightening her grip.

"Goodnight Dylan."

Together they drifted off to sleep, Dylan happier than he'd been in a long while and Summer feeling completely content with the beginning of her new family.

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Summer woke up first and it took her a minute to realize where she was until she noticed that she was still gripping Dylan's hands tightly between her own, their fingers entwined.

She smiled and slowly released him, stretching out her body. He sensed the movement and his eyes fluttered open. He yawned and stretched as well, before his eyes focused on her .

"Hey." He murmured.

She smiled.

"Hi." She blushed, ducking her head down to hide it.

"What time is it?" he asked, rolling onto his back and looking at the alarm clock across the room.

"Seven-thirty." Summer read for him and he groaned, rubbing his hands over his face.

"We have to get up for class in ten minutes."

"Yeah, Cindy always wakes me up, I better get back to my room." She sounded unsure, and uncomfortable.

"Yeah, sure." He nodded, getting out of bed, allowing her to leave the confines of his blue comforter. She stood before him, looking as awkward as he felt.

"Thanks for being there Dylan." She smiled at him, suddenly realizing he was naked from the waist up and quickly averting her eyes.

"Hey, anytime, okay?" he told her, taking her hand. She nodded, smiling up at him.

"Yeah, thanks again." She leaned up and hugged him, her arms wrapping tightly around his neck. He hugged her back, his arms wrapping around her back and he lifted her into the air. She laughed into his shoulder as he swung her around, her feet tucked up as they spun together through the air.

He gently set her back on her feet and she continued to smile, looking happier than he'd seen her in a while.

"See you in class, Dylan."

"Yeah, see you."

He watched her walk back to her room and close the door before he danced in victory and elatedness. He'd finally gotten her to come to him, to trust him with something. It wasn't the relationship he wanted, but it was definitely a huge step in the right direction. No longer feeling tired he headed off to take a shower, whistling happily to himself, getting ready for the day.


End file.
